


Cherry's Adventures of Hercules

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Hercules (1997)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 09:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2577143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three mortal children accompany the demigod Hercules in his quest to join Mount Olympus with his father, the god, Zeus to prove himself a real hero. I only own OC's who are based on people I actually know and everyone and everything else is owned by both Disney and Greek Mythology.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cherry and Peach were walking together slowly behind their mythology class. Cherry loved mythology, but she was with Peach on this field trip to the history museum. It was really slow and boring, they couldn't keep up with it with the teacher nearly boring them to death.

"Long ago, in the land of Ancient Greece," the teacher narrated, very slowly and dully. Not even the awesome pieces of art in the section of the museum could entertain the girls. "There was a golden age of powerful Gods and extraordinary heroes. The greatest and the strongest of all these heroes was the mighty Hercules."

"Whoa, even you're bored." Peach whispered.

Cherry dully shushed her friend, then kept her eyes forward, though they seemed heavy as she yawned again. "Alright, I'm bored of this too, you win."

Peach giggled. "This is worth it... Seeing you bored from a lecture is worth seeing."

"Quiet, we're gonna get in trouble..." Cherry whined, though she sounded flatter than usual.

"But what is the measure of a true hero?" the teacher continued to lecture, not noticing the girls sneaking away from the trip while the class kept following him. "Now, that is what our story-"

Cherry and Peach escaped, then they heard a voice call to them.

"Would you listen to him? He's making this story sound like some Greek tragedy!"

Cherry and Peach looked around. They thought maybe a girl from their class was making sense, but they turned. The girls thought they were so bored that they were imagining that the pictures were coming to life like in Night at the Museum movies.

"Lighten up, dude!" another girl in the picture said, taking a sad mask away from the one who spoke.

"We'll take it from here, darling." another one of them said.

Peach looked the most surprised. "Cherry... Is it me or are those girls talking to us?"

"They're not just girls, Peach, they're the Muses." Cherry explained.

"That's right, I'm Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, and these are Clio, the muse of history," she pointed to the one with the ponytail, "That's Thalia, the muse of comedy," she pointed to the short, chubby one, and this is Terpsichore, the muse of the dance, and finally, that's Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, we are the muses, Goddesses of arts and proclaimers of heroes." the very, possible the leader of the Muses group, introduced

"Heroes like Hercules." Melpomene fanned herself.

"Honey, you mean Hunkules!" Thalia shimmied with an eager smile. She then dashed to a picture of the god of a man to show the girls. "Ooh, I'd like to make some sweet music with him!"

"OUR story..." Melpomene stopped her, then smiled at the visitors of the museum. "Actually begins long before Hercules, many eons ago..." the Muses them bounced out of the picture and danced around the exhibit while Cherry and Peach's class seemed to had been gone nowhere, possibly in another part of the museum. The Muses started showing Cherry and Peach a lot about Greek mythology with pictures coming to life as well.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?" Cherry looked around, nervously.

"Shh, I wanna watch this!" Peach told her.

Calliope: Back when the world was new the planet Earth was down on its luck!  
And everywhere, gigantic brutes called Titans run a muck!

Thalia: It was a NASTY place  
There was a mess wherever you stepped

Calliope: Where chaos reigned and earthquakes and volcanoes never slept!  
"Hey, it sounds like staying over at my dad's house." Peach commented.

"Whoo! Say it, girlfriend!" Thalia beamed.

Muses: And then along came Zeus

Calliope: He hurled thunderbolts

Muses: They zapped!

Thalia: Locked those suckers in a vault

Muses: They're trapped and on his own  
Stopped chaos in its tracks  
And that's the Gospel Truth  
The guy was a too Type A just to relax!

Cilo: And as the world's first dish

Thalia: Yeah, baby!

Terpsichore: Zeus tamed the globe  
While still in his youth

Muses: Though honey, it may seem impossible, but that's the Gospel Truth!  
On Mount Olympus was neat and smooth as sweet vermouth  
Though honey, it may seem impossible  
But that's the Gospel Truth!

There was sudden a big glow. Cherry and Peach flinched from the brightness and covered their eyes. They were huddled together and the glow overcast them and somehow the girls wound up in a patch of fluffy clouds. Cherry and Peach opened their eyes and looked around them.

"Peach, what did you do?" Cherry put her hands on her hips.

"Why are you looking at me?" Peach asked, a little cynically.

"You said if we died together, it'd be your fault!"

"I don't feel dead..."

"Well... Neither do I, but... Where else could we be?"

"Maybe we're on that Mount Olympus the Muses were singing about." Peach shrugged.

"Probably, let's go exploring." Cherry walked, though she seemed to have hovered, being in a cloudy paradise and all.

Peach followed her and looked down to see she was in what looked like an ancient Greek outfit. Cherry was wearing the same. They came to the golden gates with a lot of gods and goddesses going inside for some kind of ceremony. This wasn't an ordinary field trip anymore. No, no, this was another adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

The gates opened, making Cherry and Peach flinch from the brightness of the inside. They hopped along the clouds and saw several Gods and Goddesses together for some kind of celebration.

"Excuse me, but what's happening here?" Peach asked one of them.

"There's Hermes, the Messager god, I'm sure he knows!" Cherry pointed to one of the gods with winged shoes.

"How is it that you know more about these people than I do?" Peach glanced at her.

"I love Greek mythology." Cherry smirked at her.

Hermes floated along and saw the girls. "What are two mortals doing in Mount Olympus?" he wondered.

"Hey!" Peach sounded offended to being called mortal.

"Peach, please, he doesn't know you yet." Cherry tried to calm her friend.

"Well, whoever or wherever you came from, please don't make too much of a mess," Hermes told them. "We're here to celebrate the birth of Zeus and Hera's child."

Peach looked at Cherry to find this out easier since she was such a master when it came to Greek Mythology. She had the best grade in her mythology class and not just because she was becoming close friends with the teacher.

"Hercules," Cherry glanced back at her. "Didn't you hear the Muses earlier?"

"Come on, you can congratulate them." Hermes floated in with the crowd while Cherry and Peach made their way to meet the God couple and their new son. "I have some news to tell the God and Goddess anyway."

Peach had a curved look on her face. "I always wondered this... Where will I go when I die?"

"Well, let's see," Cherry pondered herself. "You're a bit sneaky, though you're very nice. You can be a bit sadistic, but you always know how to have a good time..."

"It's not just about what I do in my life, it's that... Well... Never mind."

"No, Bubba, if you wanna tell me, you can tell me."

"I don't think I should... I don't want my mate to get hurt." Peach looked into Cherry's eyes. "It doesn't matter, let's just try to be happy for the little tyke." Peach had trusted Cherry with secrets before, but there was a major one she was a little too worried to tell her about because Cherry usually worried easily.

Hera and Zeus wondered of the mortal girls, but welcomed them anyway. They all took a peek to see the new baby God. Cherry fawned over him and Peach cracked a smile in an attempt to seem polite, though she felt that was useless, but didn't say anything smart or snippy.

"Hera, look, look how cute he is," Zeus leaned in, smiling like a proud father. He started to tickle the baby.

Baby Hercules giggled and grabbed Zeus by his finger, lifting him high up in the air.

"He's strong, just like his father." Zeus was needless to say proud.

"Peach, do you ever want kids?" Cherry asked as she watched Hercules have his fun.

"I want three sons honestly," Peach smiled. "Boys cause trouble when they're older, yes, but girls are a lot more dramatic with their problems than boys are. Like me and my sister, besides you."

"Sister?" Cherry glanced at her. "What about Staci?"

Peach looked back at her. "Staci is not my sister, she is a cow. As far as I'm concerned, my only sisters are Teri, you, and Lucia."

Cherry sighed and looked back down at the baby's bassinet. "He's still adorable."

"Thank you, darling." Hera smiled.

Hermes came finally over to Zeus and Hera. He had a bouquet of flowers for the lady.

"Why, Hermes, they're beautiful." Hera beamed as she took the flowers. "Do you know where these girls came from?"

"I don't know, but they don't seem to be much danger," Hermes smiled gently, then went to Zeus. "Fabulous party. I haven't seen this much love since Narcissus discovered himself!"

There was the said God looking in the mirror and puckering his lips.

"I swear my brother was evolved from that god." Cherry remarked, seeing him.

Peach rolled her eyes, but smiled at her friend's words.

The baby god was reaching for a lightning bolt to play with it.

"Zeus, keep those away from the baby." Hera warned her husband.

"Oh, he's only a child, Hera, let him have a little fun." Zeus encouraged the curiosity.

Hercules started to nibble on the lightning bolt. Suddenly, he got zapped by the electricity and not liking that. He stuck his tongue out in disgust and threw the bolt away which struck a pillar, but it formed right back in place.

Zeus laughed, seeming proud of that throw. "On behalf of my son, I'd like to thank you all for your wonderful gifts." he showed the pile of several presents and treasures from the other gods and goddesses.

"Sorry we couldn't bring anything, sir." Cherry said.

"It's okay, thanks for coming, though how did you get here?" Zeus asked.

"I don't remember," Peach shrugged. "We were in a museum and suddenly we came here."

"You came on a special day that's for sure, even if you don't have a gift." Zeus said to them.

"What about our gift, dear?" Hera asked, sounding excited.

"Let's see," Zeus rubbed his chin, then took some clouds together to form something, much to his infant son's confusion. "A touch of cirrus, a pinch of nimbostratus, and a dash of cumulonimbus..." He then handed the cloud formations to Hercules which looked like a foal with wings on it.

"If that's cotton candy I want some too!" Cherry reached for some.

However, as she put her hand on it, she quickly withdrew her hand and a white foal's head came out with blue mane. The clouds then broke apart and the foal tried to fly itself with its tiny wings.

"His name is Pegasus and he's all yours." Zeus told his son.

Hercules held Pegasus and bonked their heads against each other. The foal got dizzy and shook his head, then licked Hercules's face. Hercules almost looked like he was about to cry, but the pony and baby shared a fond, friendly hug, and everyone looked in awe.

Zeus was so happy and wrapped a medallion around the chubby neck of the baby. He tucked Hercules in happily and kissed his cheek with a tender, fatherly smile. "My boy, my little Hercules..."

"How sentimental..." a dry voice spoke up.

Everyone wondered who and where it came from. They looked into the dark and saw Hades, Lord of the Underworld. The others looked a little unhappy about his visit, but Peach had a strange smile emerge on her face.

"Ya know, I haven't been choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka stuck in my throat!" Hades came into view and had a wicked smile. "Huh?"

No one laughed at his joke, but Peach did.

"At least someone has a sense of humor around here," Hades shrugged, then walked along the crowd to see the baby as well.

"Okay, him, I know." Peach pointed, looking at Cherry.

"Oh, you know that God from school lessons?"

"Sure, why not?"

"So, Hades, how are things in the Underworld?" Zeus asked, putting his arm tight around the deathly god that is his brother.

"Oh, ya know, a little dark and gloomy," Hades moved his hand from around him. "Full of dead people. But hey, whatya gonna do?" he then dismissed the mortal girls, feeling more focused on the real center of attention, the baby. "So, here's the little sun spot. Little smooshy-smooshy... And here is a sucker for the little sucker! Here ya go!" he took out a stick with a poisonous skull over it.

Hercules grabbed Hades's finger tightly.

Hades grunted in pain and pulled his finger away which made Pegasus laugh at him. "Yeesh, powerful little tyke..."

"Come on, Hades, don't be such a stiff," Zeus put his arm around the blue guy again. "Join the celebration!"

"Yeah, well, I would, unlike YOU guys up here," Hades slithered away. "I have a full-time gig. Ya know, that YOU gave me, Zeus. Love to, but can't."

Zeus watched Hades walk away, looking a little glum for him. "You've got to slow down, you'll work yourself to death," he then noticed he had made a joke in there. "Ha! Work yourself to death!"

That made everyone laugh as Hades was leaving to the Underworld to cater to more souls.

Zeus kept laughing and sat in his throne, pounding the arm. "I kill myself!"

"If only... If only..." Hades growled under his breath as he left in the darkness.

Peach glanced at Hades and looked away to see Hercules. "Kinda makes me think of Ollie, he was so cute and innocent, for a bra pinger..."

"What happened?" Cherry wondered.

"His mother and our Dad took custody of him."

"Since you girls have nowhere else to go for now, why don't you stay with us and help look after Hercules?" Hera offered.

"If you don't mind." Cherry looked up at her.

"Not at all, we'll make up a little space for you two." Hera smiled, then walked off to attend to the party.

Cherry and Peach kept watching Hercules while the other people kept partying and socializing.


	3. Chapter 3

The two mortal girls slept in a guest bed Zeus made for them as the chariot turned it from day time into night-time. Zeus and Hera were asleep in their own bed and Hercules was with Pegasus in his crib. They all slept peacefully that night after the numerous gods and goddesses went home after the party. Little did they know that they were being stalked by minions of Hades. A loud crash woke up Cherry, Peach, Hera, and Zeus.

"The baby!" Hera gasped and ran into Hercules's room to see that her son was missing. "Hercules!" she cried.

Pegasus struggled to get his head out of a toy and saw his new friend and owner was missing.

Zeus glowered that his son was taken from them and didn't like it at all. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled as lightning flashed from his fury.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Cherry came in, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I was having a good nightmare." Peach added, stepping in and folding her arms.

"Hercules has been kidnapped." Hera told them, choking between sobs.

"Your baby got kidnapped? Aw, it's not fair!" Peach sounded dramatic and fell on her knees with her face in her hands.

Cherry frowned and patted the girl's back gently. "It'll be okay, Peach..."

"Oh, I know," Peach looked back at her. "I just can't believe that little bottle sucker got to be kidnapped and I didn't!"

Cherry exhaled and rolled her eyes at that.

"You know, I can send you two back to Earth," Zeus stood before them with his hands together. "I'll send some gods and goddesses to look for him all around and you can help with the humans. If you do so, I'll grant you any wishes you desire, such as immortality, any cures for diseases, even some good luck forever."

Peach snickered a little. "Cherry needs all the good luck she can get."

"I'm not that unlucky..." Cherry glanced at her a bit.

"Go, girls, and please bring back our son, his fate rests on your shoulders." Zeus made the clouds break apart to have them fall through the air into the Earth.

"I dunno if this is such a good idea," Cherry looked nervous. "I'm afraid of heights..."

"I'll help you get over that." Peach said plainly, then pushed Cherry right down and jumped down after her.

Cherry screamed a bit as she was falling from a deathly high height while Peach was lying back like she was in a hammock with her legs crossed. The two then landed into a rustling bush in the middle of nowhere. They popped their heads out as they heard baby cries and saw Hercules with a pair of demons.

"Reminds me of Damian..." Peach muttered to herself.

"Come on, we gotta save him from those things!" Cherry snapped, ignoring Peach's observation.

The two were coming closer as the purple demon was feeding baby Hercules and his glow was disappearing.

"Look at that!" the blue demon pointed. "He's changing! Can we do it now?"

"No, no, no!" the purple one told him as they fed Hercules some strange concoction. "He has to drink the whole potion! Every last drop!"

"Who's there!?" a voice called out.

The demons screamed and went to hide. Hercules let out a wail as the bottle cracked open and one last bit of the said potion dripped out and Hercules had not drunk that one last tiny drop. Cherry and Peach went to him as he cried.

"Here, Cherry, hold him." Peach picked Hercules up and made her unwilling friend hold onto him.

Cherry grunted and felt like she was carrying a weight. She had not been able to carry a baby before other than a unwillingly babysitting adventure. Peach looked around, hoping Zeus would beam them back to Mount Olympus, putting an end to this adventure already, but he didn't. The two girls then saw a young couple come to them, the man holding a torch while Cherry and Peach just held Hercules as he wailed.

"Alcmene, over here." the man told his wife as they came closer to the sight.

The woman, Alcmene, rushed over as Hercules cried and picked him up in her arms. "Oh, you poor things. Don't cry..."

"Is anybody there?" the man asked, looking around. He then focused on the baby and the girls. "You all must've been abandoned..."

"Uhh... Yeah, let's go with that." Cherry shrugged.

"My parents are dead!" Peach said in an eerily happy tone.

"Graphic much?" Cherry whispered sharply to her friend. She then looked in front of the human couple cater to Hercules. "Um, hello... I'm Cherry and this is my friend Peach... That's Hercules..." she pointed to the god infant, a little nervously, not sure what to make of his scenario.

"Hello, I'm Amphitryon and this is my wife, Alcmene," the man introduced. "You three must be looking for homes..."

"Actually, I'm hungry, got any cheese and tomato sandwiches?" Peach said, patting her stomach.

"Amphitryon, for so many years we've prayed to the Gods to bless us with children," Alcmene smiled fondly at the baby and the two girls. "Maybe they've answered our prayers."

"I guess they have..." Amphitryon smiled, then looked at the baby boy's medallion. "Would you like to live with us?" he asked the girls.

Cherry and Peach exchanged glances at each other. They both shrugged and decided to go along with it until Zeus would take them back to Mount Olympus. Suddenly the two demons had morphed into snakes. They were on their way to kill Hercules, but he still had his strength as shown. Hercules grabbed them both, slamming them into each other and laughed. He then strongly tied them up together and threw them into a great distance. The human couple was gratefully shocked and Hercules giggled innocently.

The girls then followed Alcmeme and Amphitryon to their home. They were going to be raised by the couple for a while. Cherry and Peach had already treated each other like sisters and had thought of living together, but this wasn't exactly what they had in mind. Hercules gave Cherry a chance with big sister instincts since she was the youngest child where she came from. Peach also had a bit of her own experience because of her younger brother. She always said that Ollie was cute, a menace, but cute.

"It was tragic, Zeus led all the gods on a frantic search," Calliope narrated. "But by the time they found the baby... It was too late."

Melopmeme: Young Herc was mortal now  
But since he did not drink the last drop  
He still retained his god-like strength  
So thank his lucky star!

"Tell it, girl." Thalia added.

Calliope: But Zeus and Hera wept because their son could never come home  
They'd have to watch their precious baby grow up from a far  
Though Hades's horrid plan was hatched before Herc cut his first tooth  
The boy grew stronger every day and that's the gospel truth

Muses: The gospel truth...


	4. Chapter 4

Thirteen years passed, Hercules had grown to that age, but it seemed as though Cherry and Peach were unaffected by the time passing. There were sheep grazing innocently, then there came teenager Herc pulling the giant cart with straw, the girls, Amphityron, and a donkey who had a blue hood on nearly like a Russian scarf. Peach was enjoying the wild ride while Cherry looked like she was about to be sick to her stomach.

"HERCULES, SLOW DOWN!" Amphityron yelled during the wild ride.

Hercules kept running and ran into a few men who were working on an entrance into the market area. The straw hit the men and Hercules quickly apologized as they kept moving. Several people tried to dodge and get out-of-the-way and shook once Hercules had come in. He had a bit of a bad reputation with his super god strength in the town. Cherry was on her way out and took deep breaths while Peach rolled out, excited.

"That was awesome!" Peach jumped. "I wish my mom would drive that fast!"

Amphityron hopped out and held the distressed donkey's leg. "Thanks for the help, son. Well, when Penelope twisted her ankle back there, I thought we were done for." he gently took Penelope out to safety.

"No problem, Pop." Hercules smiled as he took the hay with one arm.

"Don't unload just yet," Amphityron told the boy. "First, I have to finagle with Phidias."

"Okay," Hercules set the hay down which sent Cherry flying in the air.

Peach looked up in shock and looked a little jealous. "Lucky muffin!"

"Oops," Hercules chuckled nervously. "Sorry, Cherry!"

"Now, Hercules, please just," Amphityron looked uneasy as he was trying to spare his foster son's feelings.

"I know, I know," Hercules said as Cherry came back down in landed in Peach's arms. "Stand by the cart."

"That's my boy," Amphityron smiled, then went to find Phidias. "Cherry, Peach, keep an eye on him."

"Yes, sir." the girls said.

Peach looked to see Cherry still in her arms and dropped Cherry right on the ground. "Duffnut." she said, but smiled.

The girls and boy stood by the cart as told. They then heard some trouble by the pottery place. Hercules decided to help the owner out as he was carrying a heavy vase.

"Herc, we have to stay here!" Cherry protested.

Peach looked back at her. "You're one of my best friends and I don't listen to what you say sometimes, you really think he'll listen?"

Cherry darted her eyes and walked with Peach to see what Hercules was doing. "Poor me and poor Demetrius."

The man, Demetrius struggled with his potted goods as he kept trying to move the vase. He was having a hard time since he was unable to see what was going on around him and it caused a lot of the pots to fall and shatter.

Hercules rushed to his aid. "Careful."

"Oh," Demetrius laughed, feeling relieved. "Why, thank you..."

"No problem." Hercules showed his friendly smile.

Demetrius's grateful smile vanished as he looked agape. "Why, Hercules, i-i-it's you!"

"Here, let me help you with that." Hercules offered.

"No, no, no!" Demetrius shook his head and held the vase close to avoid getting smashed like the others. "You just run along!"

"You're sure?" Hercules checked.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely." Demetrius nodded and quickly ushered him out back with Cherry and Peach.

Hercules sighed sadly and came to the girls. "But, I wanted to help..."

"Aw, forget him, you don't need him." Peach tried to comfort.

"Yeah, you still got us." Cherry added, smiling friendly.

"Yo, give it here!" a teen boy called.

Hercules turned to see three boys about his age. He smiled as he saw them playing. The discus flew toward him and he picked it up, hoping the boys would let him play. They came over to him and stopped suddenly in shock and worry.

"Hey, you need an extra guy?" Hercules asked.

One of the boys shoved the blonde one over. He looked back anxiously, then smiled nervously. "Uh... Sorry, Herc... Uh, we already got five... and we wanna keep it an even number."

"Wait," Hercules saw right through that. "Five isn't an even-"

The boy grabbed the discus and ran off with the others. "What a geek!"

"What a loser, huh, guys?" the other one asked.

"Hey, maybe we should call him 'Jerkules'." the blonde boy snickered with his other friends.

Hercules looked hurt, then furrowed his brows at them. He then slumped down on a stone, feeling so down about himself because of what his peers thought.

"Don't worry about what other people think, Herc, they don't do it often." Peach advised with a smile.

"She has a point." Cherry admitted. Sure, Peach was a little slow at times and had some bad mouths now and then, but she was an actually helpful person at times.

"HEAD'S UP!" one of the teen boys called.

"I got it!" Hercules called as he jumped up after the discus coming close toward them. "I got it!" He was hoping if he caught it without doing anything destructive, he would finally be accepted by the others. However, he ran into a pillar. That pillar knocked some others over as he tried to grab one and hold it still. Cherry and Peach panicked and ran for cover.

"Hercules!" Amphityron called.

"Hang on, Pop!" Hercules dashed past him to save the town's stores. "Be right back!"

Demetrius was now holding four vases. He panicked since one of the falling pillars was coming for him and the delicate items from his store. He looked to see another pillar coming for him. He cried, then squeezed his eyes shut, then felt relieved once the pillars stopped each other and didn't come down on him. He was very relieved until Hercules rushed over, slipped and slid toward him causing a huge crash. The whole town was covered in dust and it looked very miserable to see all the destruction. The townspeople crowded over and Cherry and Peach looked a bit nervous.

"Nice catch, JERKULES..." the blonde teen swiped the discus from the formerly immortal teen and stormed off in sheer disgust.

Cherry patted Hercules's arms and tried to settle him. Amphityron even tried to settle him. However, matters got a lot worse when Demetrius had a vase over his head and he was trying to pull it off.

"This... is the last...STRAW, AMPHITYRON!" Demetrius pulled the vase off successfully and glared at Amphityron, Cherry, Peach, and Hercules and threw the vase down on the ground in anger.

"That boy is a menace!" one man pointed to Hercules.

"He's too dangerous to be around NORMAL people!" another one added.

Peach gasped in fear of that word. Normal.

Amphityron decided to take the others home as the townspeople were insulted to be around Hercules. "He didn't mean any harm. He's only a kid... He just...can't control his strength."

"Yeah, we're all different and have a lot of problems in our lives, but it's not our faults." Cherry pointed out.

"Yeah, Cherry can't help it when she's a Lisa Simpson and tries to solve problems when she can't!" Peach added.

"You keep that... that... FREAK away from me!" Demetrius pointed deathly at Hercules.

The other people agreed with considering Hercules to be a freak. Everyone that went home after the destroyed remains of the town. This was a painful day for everyone, but the most pain was heaved on the one who caused it all and wasn't hurt by his destruction. Sunset came as Hercules was hanging his head. Of all the days he's lived and been taken in by the mortal couple, this had to be the absolute worse.

"Son, you shouldn't let what these people say get to you." Amphityron tried to console the boy.

"But, Pop, they're right! I AM a freak!" Hercules protested. "I try fitting in, I really do! But, I just can't... Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here...I-I feel like I should be someplace else."

"I know that feel." Cherry said as she was washing dishes with Peach.

"Hercules..." Amphityron kept trying to comfort the boy, but it was nearly no use.

"I know, it doesn't make any sense..." Hercules walked off from him.

Amphityron frowned and sighed. He then went inside. Cherry and Peach looked at each other. They decided to follow Hercules, even if he wanted some alone time now. Hercules picked up a stone and threw it across the water to skip along.

Hercules: I have often dreamed of a far off place

Where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me

Where the crowds will cheer when they see my face and a voice keeps saying

'This is where I'm meant to be...'

Cherry and Peach followed Hercules as he climbed up a tree. Cherry stayed on the ground due to her lack of climbing ability and Peach climbed up with him, not worrying or caring for her safety. There came a shooting star.

Hercules: I will find my way, I can go the distance  
I'll be there someday if I can be strong  
I know every mile will be worth my while  
I would go most anywhere to feel like I belong

That night, Hercules, Cherry, and Peach got home with Amphityron and Alcmene. They were at the front door as though they had been expecting the group to return.

"Hercules, there's something your mother and I have been meaning to tell you." Amphityron spoke up.

Hercules was a little nervous. Cherry and Peach knew what was coming and decided to help the mortal couple explain this to the boy. They all sat down and the mortals explained to Hercules what they had been hiding from him nearly all his life.

"But, if you found me, where did I come from?" Hercules asked.

"This was around your neck when we found you." Alcmene took out the medallion with his name on it.

Hercules took it and looked to see a thunderstorm cloud with a lightning bolt on it with his name glimmering on the other side.

"It's a symbol of the Gods," Cherry explained. "We're not even your sisters, Hercules. We were sent on a mission to help protect you with this couple."

"You mean, you aren't even Amphityron and Alcmene's children?" Hercules looked at them.

Peach shook her head. "Nope... It's a long story, you should go to the Temple of Zeus and find out for yourself."

"Shouldn't we tell him about Zeus?" Cherry turned to her.

Peach looked back at her. "Let him find out for himself, he might bowl all over it once he finds out."

"This is it!" Hercules beamed. "Don't you see? Maybe they have the answers! I'll go to the Temple of Zeus and-" he stopped himself and looked back at his adoptive parents. Even though they weren't his real parents, they still felt like it since they took him in as their own. "Ma, Pop... You're the greatest parents I could ask for, but... I-I dunno..."

 

Everyone went to rest that evening. They decided Hercules, Cherry, and Peach needed all their rest and strength to find the Temple of Zeus. The next morning, bright and early, the young group went away to get going. They waved goodbye to Amphityron and Alcmene one last time and set their journey. They went through a canyon, went through a field, Hercules knocked over a tree and made a bridge for them to cross, came through the woods and dodged a thunderstorm.

Hercules: I am on my way!  
I can go the distance!  
I don't care how far, somehow I'll be strong!  
I know every mile will be worth my while  
I will go most anywhere to find where I belong!

After the long adventure, the sky got dark. Hercules, Cherry, and Peach made it to the temple. They then decided to quickly head inside and meet the figure of Zeus. Hercules just hoped this trip would be worth it and he would finally be happy with himself.


	5. Chapter 5

The trio made it to where they were designated to go. Cherry and Peach knew something about the Temple of Zeus that Hercules didn't They had been keeping it from him all his life. Peach really wanted to tell him, Cherry did too, but she reminded her that they both had to keep it secret until the right time. This time seemed to be the right time.

"Mighty Zeus," Hercules spoke up, looking at the statue of the mighty god of Mount Olympus. "Please hear me and answer my question. Who am I? Where do I belong?"

Suddenly, there came a breeze of the wind. Hercules looked around him and suddenly the torches were lit with fire and the statue came to life. Zeus was in his statue form, but he was the God on the inside now. His eyes opened and he smiled as he looked down at the teen with a bright, fatherly smile. "My boy, my little Hercules." his hand came down to hold the boy.

Hercules freaked out, then started to run away.

"Hey, get back here!" Peach demanded.

"Hold on, kid, where's your hurry?" Zeus reached for the boy and held him in his ginormous hands for the first time in years. "Is this the greeting you give your father after all these years?"

Hercules's head popped out in surprise. "F-F-Father?"

"That's right, Herc, your father is the one and only Zeus!" Cherry crossed her arms, smiling.

"We had to keep it from you, trust me, it wasn't MY idea..." Peach added, then glanced at Cherry for that last comment.

"Didn't know you had a famous father, did you?" Zeus laughed as he held Hercules, now standing in his palm. "SURPRISE! Look how you've grown," Zeus was very happy for this moment. "You have your mother's eyes and my strong chin..."

"B-But, if you're my father... That would make me a-" Hercules couldn't believe this.

"A God," Zeus finished for him, seeing as he struggled with coping with the long-lost truth.

"A god..." Hercules repeated, whispering, then realized what he agreed to. "A GOD!"

"Please, don't fall over this time," Zeus kept him from fainting. "You wanted the answers, now you got them."

"Are you guys Gods too?" Hercules looked back at the girls.

Cherry shook her head in response.

"No, but I'm part demon since my Dad's the devil." Peach answered.

"Oh, Peach, I know you hate your dad, but he's not that evil." Cherry looked at him.

"I'm serious, when I go away to visit my dad, I have to take an elevator to Hell!" Peach explained.

"Peach..." Cherry closed her eyes and shook her head. She had never met Peach's father, but heard a lot of bad things about him next to her sister, Staci. She just thought the tomboy hated her father so much she called him bedeviling names.

"But, why did you leave me here on Earth?" Hercules asked the statue. "Didn't you want me?"

"Of course we did," Zeus sounded sorrow, never forgetting the day the boy was taken from him and Hera. "Your mother and I loved you with all our hearts, but some vandals stole you away and made you mortal. Mount Olympus doesn't allow mortals."

"Then how did we get in?" Cherry asked.

"I told you, I'm not mortal, I'm half-demon!" Peach argued.

"So, there's nothing you can do?" Hercules sighed to his father.

"I can't, but YOU can." Zeus told him.

"Really? What is it?" Hercules brightened up. "I'll do anything!"

"Hercules, if you can prove yourself to be a true hero, your immortal-ship will be restored!" Zeus said.

"A true hero, I like that!" Hercules praised, then grew low again. "Uhh... How do you become a true hero?"

"First, you must seek out Philetes, the trainer of heroes." Zeus advised.

"Seek out, Philetes, got it! I'll just-WHOA!" Hercules nearly fell from his father's hand.

"Hold your horses, son!" Zeus laughed, picking the boy back from falling any further. "Which reminds me..." he then whistled as loud as he could.

There came a shooting star which formed into a familiar horse with wings.

"You probably don't remember Pegasus, but you and him go way back, son." Zeus explained.

Pegasus landed in front of Hercules, who was now on the floor with the girls. The horse grabbed Hercules with his hooves and bonked each other on the head like when the boy was a baby.

Hercules laughed, then instantly remembered as he hugged the horse. "Oh, Pegasus!"

"He's a magnificent horse with nerves of steel," Zeus explained as Pegasus posed to look heroic and had his wings over his head. "And the brain of a bird."

Pegasus snorted, then did a bird call, feeling confused with himself.

"Alright!" Hercules climbed onto Pegasus's back with Cherry and Peach joining him. "I'm gonna find Philetes and become a true hero!"

"That's the spirit!" Zeus beamed.

"I won't let you down, Father!" Hercules called back as they were about to take off.

"Good luck, son..." Zeus whispered as he turned back into statue mode.

Peach had blindfolded Cherry so she wouldn't freak out from the height. Despite being the daughter of a horse trainer and horse lover, Cherry wasn't that fond of horses, but she did like Pegasus.

Hercules: I will beat the odds!  
I can go the distance!  
I will face the world! Fearless, proud, and strong!

I will please the Gods!  
I can go the distance til I find my hero's welcome  
Right...Where...I...Beeeloooong!

What the group didn't know, was that the planets were starting to align, but slowly. It was foggy as the group went with Pegasus to find out the mysterious one known as Philetes. There were goat cries heard, but no one saw a goat. There were three beautiful girls relaxing in their little tropical atmosphere with no disturbances.

"You sure this is the right place?" Hercules asked his horse.

Pegasus nodded and gestured for the girls to go with him.

The group did as told and they followed the goat cries. They found a goat who appeared to be stuck in a grassy hedge. "What's the matter, little fella? You're stuck?" Hercules pulled the goat out, but it was revealed to be goat legs attached to a plump man, though he had horns and a beard like a goat.

"Gee, someone's parents must have been sick..." Peach whispered to her friend, gesturing at the creature.

"That's a satyr," Cherry corrected. "A lot of infamous ones can be called fauns like Mr. Tumnus from the Chronicles of Narnia."

"Still sick." Peach shrugged.

"Whoa! Hey, butt out, buddy!" the satyr growled at Hercules.

The sprite girls spotted him and screamed as they started to run away. One girl turned into a flower lei like from Hawaii, one vanished by the pond and one of the girls turned into a tree. The satyr had no luck capturing any of them. The satyr tried to get the tree one but she slapped him with her branch, sending him to the group.

"What's the matter?" the creature growled. "Ya never seen a satyr before?"

"Told you." Cherry said.

"Cherry..." Peach made a goofy face to make her be quiet.

"Uh, no..." Hercules told the satyr. "Can you help us? We're looking for someone called Philetes."

The satyr found a dish with grapes. He shook off the fruit and instead ate the bowl. "Call me Phil."

"Phil!" Hercules grew ecstatic and shook the satyr's human hand, nearly squeezing it.

"I got more food!" a boy came over, then stopped. "Cherry?"

"Atticus?" Cherry glanced at him. "What're you doing here?"

"Waht am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?"

"Hello, random person." Peach smiled.

"Umm... Hi, it's Atticus," the boy told her. "I'm one of Cherry's friends."

"That's funny," Peach laughed. "So am I. She's my mate."

"I told you, that makes you sound Australian." Cherry whispered to the English girl.

"Hey, when I'm home, people think I'm an American trying to sound English, but when I'm with you, people think I'm an English trying to sound American." Peach argued.

Cherry sighed and smiled, though still surprised to see Atticus. "How'd you get here?'

Atticus shrugged. "I dunno, I was minding my own business in the museum and somehow I wound up here. I met Phil and we started hanging out a bit. What about you?"

"Same problem, only we're with Herc." Peach answered.

"Boy, am I glad to meet ya," Hercules was still thrilled over the satyr. "These are my friends, Cherry and Peach, and I'm Hercules! And this is Pegasus."

The winged horse licked the satyr's face like a loyal dog.

"Animals, disgusting!" Phil grunted from the affectionate tongue. "Come on, Atticus!"

The boy nodded and followed him a statue's head.

"I need your help," Hercules followed them. "I wanna become a hero. A true hero."

"Sorry, kid, we can't help ya." Phil told them as he went to get a door with Atticus's help.

"So, how do you know that dude?" Peach gestured to Atticus, asking Cherry.

"We helped Cinderella become a princess and we solved the case of who framed Roger Rabbit." Cherry concluded. "He's a good friend of mine."

Peach deeply scowled, folding her arms.

"A good guy friend of mine!" Cherry quickly covered up.

Peach smiled. "Duffnut."

Atticus went in with Phil. The satyr refused to help the god boy, but Hercules didn't want to be left out like he was back home. "Why not?" he pulled the door too hard, revealing Atticus and Phil right out the door with his unholy strength.

"Two words!" Phil told him, taking the door back fix it. "I am retired!"

Hercules counted on his fingers, then shook his head at it. "Look, I've got to do this. Haven't you ever had a dream? Something you wanted to do so bad you'd do anything?"

Phil paused. He seemed to have been deeply touched by that and turned back gently at the group. "Kids, come inside, I wanna show you somethin'."

"Watch your head." Atticus advised, helping Cherry and Peach in with Hercules.

Pegasus tried to join them, but had trouble and no avail.

Hercules looked around with Cherry and Peach. Cherry was having a geekgasm due to her vast interest in mythology. When she was a lot younger, it was Egyptian, but now she was settled for Greek. Hercules bonked his head and he rubbed his head, nearly wincing.

"Watch it!" Phil called. "That was the mast part of the Argo!"

"THE Argo?" Hercules asked, sounding very interested and starstruck.

"Who ya think taught Jason how to sail, Cleopatra?" Phil scoffed as he showed them all around. "I trained all these would-be heroes. Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus."

"Lot of 'yeses'." Peach commented.

"You know Odysseus?" Phil asked her.

"The one who did the Odyssey?"

"Yes."

"He was gone for 20 years, 10 for the Trojan War, and 10 to get home to his wife and son?"

"Yes."

"Tricked a cyclops into telling his name was 'Nobody'?"

"Yes."

"No, I haven't." Peach made a silly face.

"Stop that." Cherry laughed a bit with the girl's silly ways.

"Every single one of those bums let me down," Phil continued his tour and explanation. "Flatter than a discus. None of them can go the distance," he then showed a statue of a famed warrior. "And then there was Achilles, now there's a guy who had it all: The build, the speed, he can take a jab, he can take a hit, he can keep on coming!"

"But his heel." Cherry spoke up.

"You got it, sister," Phil got in her face and continued his story of training Achilles. He then licked his finger and touched the statue's heel, breaking it instantly to show his point. "He barely gets nicked there once and KABOOM! He's history! Yeah, I had a dream once," he showed a blue fabric with glittering stars showing a figure to the group. "So the great Gods would hang a picture of him up in the stars, all across the sky and people will say: That's Phil's boy. That's right..."

Hercules posed behind the fabric to look heroic. The kids were silent, unsure of how to react, but they respected Phil's dreams and wishes which seemed to take long to come true.

"Eh, dreams are for rookies," Phil scoffed, taking the fabric off, doubting himself now. "A guy can only take so much disappointment."

"But I'm different from those other guys, Phil!" Hercules argued. "I can go the distance! Come on, I'll show you!" he grabbed him by the horns to take him outside.

Atticus signaled they should follow, so Cherry and Peach came out while Pegasus was lying down, left out. He perked up as he saw them all come back for him.

"You don't give up, do ya?" Phil scoffed.

"Watch this!" Hercules said. He then grabbed the end of the statue that seemed to have been the shield. He gestured for Atticus, Cherry, and Peach to get out-of-the-way. They did, so he spun the shield and flung it away to go millions of miles away by strength.

"Holy, Hera..." Phil whispered to himself. "Ya know, maybe I could... No, no, no, no! Snap out of it! I'm too old to be going through this again!" he stormed off to go back inside.

"But if he doesn't become a true hero, he'll never be able to join his father, Zeus!" Cherry tried to reason with the satyr.

"Hold in," Phil spun on his hooves and pointed to Hercules. "Zeus is YOUR father, right?"

Hercules, Cherry, Peach, Atticus, and Pegasus nodded.

Phil started laughing out loud at this. "Zeus? The big guy, he's your daddy! Mr. Lightning Bolt! And what's next? These three are Apollo, Artemis, and Ares!"

The others glared at him for laughing, but he wouldn't stop.

"Wead me a book, would ya, Dada?" Phil laughed at the idea of Zeus having plain old guy for a son. "Zeus: ONCE UPON A TIME!" he kept taunting and laughing.

"It's the truth, tin can breath!" Peach growled.

"Puh-lease!" Phil glanced at them, then slid down the slope to his training ground.

Phil: So, you wanna be a hero, kid? Well, whoop-dee-doo!  
I've been around the block before with blockheads just like you  
Each and everyone a disappointment...pain...

For which there ain't no ointment!  
So much for excuses  
Now, a 'kid of Zeus's' is asking me to jump into the fray  
My answer is two words!

ZAP! There came a lignting bolt from dark clouds which came for a moment, then disappeared. It was very likely it came from Zeus who had enough of his joking around and rejecting Hercules.

"Okay..." Phil wheezed.

"You mean you'll do it?" Hercules nudged him off the pedestal he had been standing on.

"You win..." Phil grunted. "Come on, Atticus, we better help this kid see the eye of the tiger."

"Okay." Atticus nodded and followed him.

"You won't be sorry, Phil!" Hercules beamed, knocking with Pegasus.

"Oh, Gods..." Phil muttered.

"So when do we start?" Hercules got eager. "Can we start now?"

"Oy, vey..."


	6. Chapter 6

Phil took Atticus, Cherry, Peach, Pegasus and Hercules to get the training started. Phil and Atticus were looking in an old box filled with weapons from the legends handed down back to him after he had trained them. Phil and Hercules brought it out and the others followed and an 11th place trophy came falling down with everything else.

Phil: I've given up hope that someone would come along  
A fella who'd ring the bell for once, not the gong  
The kind who wins trophies  
Won't settle for low fees  
At least semipro fees, but noooo!

Hercules anciently made a tree land on all of them. A bunch of olives stuck to Phil's horns and the others came out, coughing up leaves.

Phil: I get the green horn!

The others were starting to clean up the field now so Hercules could properly train over it. Phil and some other goats cut the lawn like animate lawnmowers. After the spring cleaning, Hercules took out the bow and arrow for archery practice. Poor Phil got stuck to the arrow and hit the target instead of the arrow once Herc shot it.

Phil: I've been put out to pasture, pals, my ambition's gone  
|Content to spend lazy days and graze my lawn, but you'll need an advisor  
A satyr, but wiser!  
A good merchandiser and WHOOOOOOAAAA!  
There goes my ulcer!

Night fell quickly as Hercules kept following Phil and Atticus's coaching. Cherry used measuring tape as Herc tried to make a muscle from the day's training, but wasn't close. Phil made him get down and do push-ups while Pegasus pounded the ground to count them.

Phil: I'm down to one last hope and I hope it's you  
Though, kid, you're not exactly a dream come true

 

The next morning, Herc was now balancing an egg on a spoon in his mouth. He was walking across a rope while Peach was on the other side to tally the results. Herc fell from the rope and the egg landed on Phil's head. This made Pegasus lick up the splattered remains.

Phil: I've trained enough turkeys who never came through  
You're my last hope so you'll have to do

The next journey for Hercules was to save a fake damsel in distress. However, he had run out of dolls, so he got the kids to help out. Peach was tied to a burning stake. She was very hot and wheezing, though she didn't seem to mind that her life was in danger. She never minded, of course.

"Rule number six, when rescuing a damsel, always handle with care." Phil coached. He then blew his whistle.

Herc dashed away from the others. He managed to free Peach from her trap, but as he ran across the log, he nearly tripped and it broke. Phil and Pegasus grunted as Herc and Peach plummeted into the water.

 

After that, Phil and Atticus set up wooden targets and Hercules had to throw swords at them as they went on and off over and over again.

"Rule number 95, kid, concentrate." Phil coached again.

Hercules then threw the swords. He then covered his eyes sheepishly as he saw where they had landed and hit. Pegasus looked too, cringing slightly.

"Rule number 96!" Cherry called, having been stabbed against a tree with her legs spread out. "Aim!"

It was now winter time. Phil had a scarf with earmuffs and he had jackets for the kids. Atticus, however, was hanging by a rope while the others were on top of the mountain. Atticus was turning more pale than usual and his teeth were chattering.

Phil: Demigods have shown the odds and ended up a mockery  
Don't believe the stories that you read on all that crockery

Hercules dashed down and went to save Atticus. He had managed the catch the boy, but they both ran into a rock. That wasn't too bad, but Atticus was in major pain after that.

After the snowy adventure, Hercules and the others were at the training ground. Herc had to throw swords at the wooden targets again. This time, he aimed carefully away from Cherry, but he had missed the targets still. He was about to give up, but the one he threw without notice had hit the target as it was swinging. Hercules and the others cheered, Phil was very impressed and proud of the boy's skills.

Phil: To be a true hero, kid, is a dying art  
It's like painting a masterpiece  
It's a work of heart

In the sunset, Pegasus, Hercules, and Phil were doing karate poses.

"Isn't this from the Karate Kid?" Cherry asked out loud.

Peach turned to her and shushed her. "You wanna get sued?"

 

Years passed, Atticus hadn't aged like Cherry and Peach for some reason, but Herc was now 18. He dressed differently too and looked more like a hero and he had gotten stronger from the training from the satyr and his new friends.

Phil: It takes more than sinew  
Comes down to what's in you  
You have to continue to grow...

Phil was measuring Hercules again. As the muscle bounded out, it had broken the tape, much to the satyr's delight. "NOW THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Phil took the others to the most dangerous obstacle course there was. There was swinging over a rope, a giant structured fist pounding every other second, two dangerous sharks ready to bite at Herc as soon as he would pass them, and more swings with a ring of fire with Cherry dangling from it. She looked more nervous than she had ever been in all her life.

"Fluffy!" Peach beamed at the sharks with a smile. "Look at the fluffiness!" she told Atticus as he looked very sick and worried for Cherry.

Phil: I'm done to my last hope and my last high note before that blasted Underworld gets my goat

Hercules was a little nervous at first. He then went off while Peach looked extremely excited, Atticus and Pegasus were nervous and Phil kept encouraging Herc to go for it. No matter how suicidal it seemed.

Phil: My dreams are on you, kid  
Go make 'em come true!  
Climb that uphill slope, keep pushing that envelope  
You're my last hope kid  
And it's up...to...you!

Hercules dashed over to save Cherry from the trap. He swung over on the rope and he made it past the incoming pendulums which may have sliced him if he hadn't been careful. He then rose his own fist which beat the incoming crushing fist and had broken it. Even though it upset Peach and she thought it was bullying, Herc pushed away the sharks before he could become their bait. He then jumped through the ring of fire and carried Cherry in his arms. Herc had landed in the ground and saw training dummies about to shoot at him, but Herc used his sword as a boomerang and threw it at their arrows and he used his sheild to dodge them and make an H on it. He had managed to chop the dummies' heads off and grab his sword as it was now normal.

"YEAH!" Hercules cheered with Pegasus.

"That was incredible!" Peach slid down to them and beamed. "That was mean of you to hurt the poor fluffy sharks, but still AWESOME!"

"Man, did you see that?" Hercules dropped Cherry, laughing and head-butted with Pegasus. "Whoo! Next stop: Olympus!" he then lifted the winged horse.

Pegasus made a fanfare sound effect. Cherry stood up and shook her arms and legs to get back adjusted to the ground.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy, champ," Phil tried to calm the boy. "Don't go crazy or you're gonna wear out!"

"But I'm ready!" Herc told him, wrestling Pegasus to the ground. "I wanna get off this island, battle monsters, rescuing damsels, ya know, hero stuff!"

"Well..." Phil sounded uneasy.

"He HAS done a lot of training lately." Atticus told the satyr.

"Yeah, time he rescued a REAL damsel in distress." Cherry agreed.

"Aw, come on, Phil!" Hercules said.

Pegasus gave puppy eyes.

"Okay, fine," Phil grunted a bit. "You wanna road trip? Saddle up, we're going to Thebes!" he then joined the others on Pegasus to ride away.

Cherry clung on tight as they flew into the clouds. Hercules cheered as they went flying.

"So, what's in Thebes?" Hercules asked his new mentor.

"Lotta problems," Phil explained with a shrug. "It's a pretty good place to start off."

"Disasters every day, tortured every day by the same person day after day, year after year, no sign of hope... Sounds like my dad's place!" Peach added.

Suddenly, there was a scream heard.

"That SO wasn't you." Peach looked at Cherry.

"I'm not sure who that could have been." Atticus shrugged.

"Sounds like your basic DID." Phil told Hercules.

"DID?" Peach asked.

"Damsel in DISTREEEEEEEEEEEEEESS!" Phil said explaining, then yelled as they went down quickly from the sky.

The group landed somewhere near a river and looked around to their new surroundings.


	7. Chapter 7

The group wandered out the forest and looked between the bushes. They could see a young woman who was around the age of Hercules having trouble with some sort of demonic centaur. Cherry recognized the creature to her vast intelligence in mythology, especially mythological creatures.

"Not so fast, sweetheart!" the centaur hissed, coming closer to the damsel. He then grabbed her, much to her unwillingness.

"I swear, Nessus," the woman scowled at him. "Put me down or I'll-" she kicked him and tried to make her escape.

The centaur, Nessus, came back for her and kept holding onto her. "Ooh, I like 'em fiery!"

"Okay, kid," Phil started to coach, unknowing that Hercules was already going to save the woman. "First you gotta analyze the situation. Don't just walk in without thinking and-"

Peach tapped his shoulder and pointed to the walking demigod.

"HEY!" Phil growled. "He's losing points for this..."

Hercules came up and used the best brave voice he could muster to the antagonizing centaur. "Halt!"

Nessus still held onto the girl and glanced at Herc, unimpressed by his interruption and appearance. "Step aside, two legs!"

Hercules glanced back at him, then looked to the woman in trouble. He looked to the horse man creature and refused to be put down. "Pardon me, my uhh... Good sir! I'd like to ask you to let go of that young... Lady..."

"Keep moving, junior..." the woman glanced at him, unimpressed as well of his heroic antics.

Hercules looked at her and looked a little unsure of what was going on. "But... umm... Aren't you a damsel in distress?"

"I'm a damsel, I'm in distress, I can handle this," the woman nearly snapped, then had a cooled face. "Have a nice day."

Hercules looked still unsure. He was going to save this woman no matter what it took. "Ma'am, I'm afraid you're too close to the situation to realize-"

Nessus had punched Hercules, making him fall in the water and drop his sword.

"What are you doing!?" Phil growled. "GET YOUR SWORD!"

"Should we do something?" Atticus asked.

Cherry shrugged. "He wanted to be a hero."

"He has to do this on his own." Peach added.

"Sword, right!" Hercules put his hand under the water to grab his weapon. "Rule number fifteen: A hero is only as good as his weapon!" However, when Hercules took out his weapon, he saw it wasn't his sword, but a fish. The fish screamed at the nasty centaur and jumped back into the water. Hercules was pounded again and sent flying against a rock.

Pegasus charged to help out his human best friend. Phil went and kept the winged horse from going to do so and held him back. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it! Hold it! You heard the masculine girl, he's gotta do this on his own."

Hercules came out from the water, still refusing to go down and let his training go to waste.

"Come on, kid, concentrate!" Phil coached from the sidelines. "Use your head!"

Hercules had a thought before he did anything else. He heard Phil's words and took it as his next attack method. He then charged and butted his head against Nessus's chest to release the damsel in distress and sent the centaur flying and his horseshoes flew with him.

"Alright, not bad, kid! Not bad!" Phil cheered as the others clapped and cheered as well. "Not exactly what I had in mind, but not bad..." he muttered to himself then.

The woman stood from the water, coughing a little and tried to straighten herself out. Hercules picked her up, even though she seemed like she didn't want it to be done.

"I'm really sorry about that, that was kinda dumb..." Hercules said, shyly.

"Yeah..." the woman replied, flatly as she wrung her hair.

Hercules looked up to see Nessus coming back down. "Excuse me," he told the girl, then went back to the evil centaur and started to wrestle him down.

"NICE WORK! EXCELENTE!" Phil cheered as he came close to the woman with the kids.

"Is Wonder Boy here for real?" the woman nearly scoffed.

"Real as fiction." Cherry said, then paused, feeling she worded that wrong.

"What are ya talkin' about? Of course, he's real!" Phil told the woman, then tried to woo her. "By the way, I'm real too..."

The woman grunted and shoved him into the water. Cherry and Peach watched as Hercules continued to tangle with Nessus. The centaur was flung against a tree and rode around on like in a rodeo show with a bull. Hercules even punched him clear in the face and made Nessus's shoes fly back down on his head to knock him clear out.

Hercules finished and went to see the group as the kids were excitedly cheering for him, except for Phil. "How was that, Phil?"

"Rein it in, rookie!" Phil nearly snapped. "You can get away with mistakes like those in minor decathlon's, but this is the big leagues!"

"At least I beat him, didn't I?" Hercules scoffed.

"Look, next time, don't let your guard down because of a pair of big goo-goo eyes!" Phil growled back as Hercules looked back to the damsel, but paying more attention to her than the satyr now. "It's like I keep tellin' ya! You gotta stay focused and you..." Phil saw Hercules walking off and shut himself up in annoyance.

Pegasus held out his hoof to get a high-five. However, Hercules walked right past him and went to see the woman. The kids all looked at each other and saw he was clearly in love with the girl. Pegasus turned red in anger and Phil nearly bleated in equal anger.

"Are you alright, Miss-" Hercules started to ask.

"Megara," the woman revealed and let her wet ponytail smack him in the face. "My friends call me Meg. At least they would if I had any friends..."

"I know how that feels." Peach remarked.

Cherry looked back at the girl, offended.

"Hey, you're not my friend, you're my sister." Peach smiled back.

Atticus glanced at the girls, wondering what he was to them.

"So, do they give you a name with all those...rippling pectorals?" Meg asked, handing Hercules one of her sandals.

Hercules stammered and chuckled nervously like a school boy with an older crush.

"Are you always this articulate?" Meg asked, putting her sandal back on.

"HERCULES!" the demigod finally said. "My name is Hercules... Those are my friends, Cherry, Peach, and Atticus..."

"Hercules, huh?" Meg glanced at him. "I think I prefer Wonder Boy."

Pegasus went in front of Hercules to block Meg's view of him with feathered wings in the way.

"So, how did you get mixed up with...?" Hercules asked, peaking at her through the feathers.

"Pinhead with Hooves?" Meg deadpanned. "Well, you know how men are. They think 'no' means 'yes' and 'get lost' means 'take me, I'm yours'." she gave a flirty look.

Hercules looked at her and glanced at Pegasus who looked unsure himself.

"Don't worry," Meg said. "Shorty over there can explain it to you later."

Phil took great offense to that.

"Well, thanks for everything, Herc," Meg started to walk away. "It's been a real slice."

Hercules came close to her and didn't want her to leave. "Wait! Uhh... Can we give you a ride?"

"It's crowded enough already!" Cherry said to him, feeling claustrophobic.

Pegasus snorted and hid in a tree.

"I don't think your pinto likes me very much." Meg pointed out.

"Pegasus? Oh, no, don't be silly," Hercules still wanted her to come along with them. "He'd be more happy to-OW!" he had an apple hit at him.

Pegasus whistled innocently and looked away.

"I'll be on my way," Meg continued walking. "I'm a tough girl, I can tie my own sandals and everything. Bye-bye, Wonder Boy." she then walked off behind the shadows.

Hercules gave a shy wave back. "Bye... Sh-She's something, isn't she, guys?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. She's a complete something alright..." Phil said calmly, then lost his mind with anger. "A REAL PAIN IN THE PATELLA!" he then climbed Hercules and tried to wake him up from his love-struck face. "Hey, earth to Herc! Come in, Herc, we got a job to do, remember? Thebes is still waiting!" he then blew his whistle to get Pegasus.

"Oh, right, I knew that..." Hercules mumbled.

Pegasus flew in to let them all board on him and take them away. Peach looked down as Meg came into view. Something about the woman gave her an unsettling feeling, but she wasn't sure what it was. She then shrugged and waited until they would get to the city of Thebes.


	8. Chapter 8

Cherry, Peach, Phil, and Atticus flew on Pegasus as he was taking them to Thebes.

"Here it is, kids, Thebes, the Big Olive," Phil told them as they landed as people passed by whether by foot or in chariots. It was like the Greek version of modern-day New York City.  
"Wow, the city..." Cherry was delighted.

"Is that all one town?" Hercules asked the satyr.

"One town, a million problems," Phil told him, but mostly all of them. "Stick with me, kids. The city is a dangerous place."

"Awesome." Peach grinned darkly.

As they were about to cross, a man speeded by on a taxi chariot. "Watch where you're going, moron!" he yelled at them.

"HEY! I'M WALKIN' HERE!" Phil yelled back, then looked back to his new friends. "This is what I mean, I'm tellin' ya, nutcases!"

"Come here, Pegasus..." Cherry said, nervous to be handling a horse despite coming from a long line of horse trainers in her family.

The winged horse snorted gently and followed them more into town. As they were getting closer, a shifty man came to them. He bounced in front of them and whipped open his cloak, surprising them in alarm. "Any of you wanna buy a sun dial?"

"They're not interested, go home and rethink your life," Phil snorted to shoo away the possible crook. "I'm tellin' you, kids, the city is full of whack jobs."

"THE END IS COMING!" a shaky man twitched around them, sounding hysterical. "Can you feel it!?"

Pegasus was disturbed by this man as he clung to him.

"Yeah, nice meetin' ya," Phil scoffed as they continued to stroll. "Like I said, this city is full of whackos. Keep your eyes on the road."

"Why are they all so paranoid?" Atticus asked, curiously.

"It's because they live in a city of turmoil." Phil answered him.

There was a sad family together as they were by a fountain. They looked more upset than the other people in the city they lived with.

"It was tragic," one woman sighed in despair. "We lost everything in the fire."

"Everything, except old Snowball here." one man who had some ash on his face took out a black cat who coughed and meowed some smoke.

"Were the fires before or after the earthquake?" the other man asked.

"T-T-They were after the earthquakes," a timid woman said, shivering as she wrung out a cloth in her hands. "I-I-I remember."

"And before the flood." the first woman added.

"Don't even get me started on the crime rate!" the old man threw himself into the conversation. "Thebes has really dropped, every time we turn around, a new monster appears and destroys everything!"

"The last thing we need now is a plague of locusts..." the young man sighed.

Suddenly, a green locust appeared and chirped. This made the others scream, worried another disaster had striked in their hometown.

"That's it!" the old man was starting to walk off. "I'm moving to Sparta!"

"Um, excuse me?" Hercules called, revealing he and the others had listened in on their conversation, willing to help them. "It seems to me what you folks need is a hero!"

The group stared at him with their arms folded.

"Yeah, and who are you?" the older, rough man questioned, glaring at him and breaking the silence.

Phil, Atticus, Cherry, and Peach gently shoved Hercules over to introduce himself and state his business.

"I-I'm Hercules and I happen to be a hero!" the demigod said, proud, but lost his confidence as the others laughed at him.

"Some hero." the shaky woman laughed.

"Is that so?" the old man challenged. "Have you ever saved a town before?"

"Uh, no... But..." Hercules stammered a bit.

"Have you ever reversed a natural disaster?" the tough man asked, grabbing Hercules.

"Well, not exactly..."

"I knew it, he's just another dreamer!"

"Isn't that what we need?" the half-burnt man snorted.

Phil saw the others about to leave. He then glared at them to make them stay and allow Hercules to do what he was trained to do. "Don't you pea-brains, get it!?"

"Yeah, he's worked really hard for this!" Cherry added, folding her arms at them.

The group looked back to them as the satyr and kids started to defend Hercules.

"Yeah, this kid is genuine article!" Phil continued his defense.

"Hey, isn't that the goat who trained Achilles?" the tall, skinny man looked down at Phil.

The satyr turned bright red in anger. "Watch it, pal..."

"Hey, you're right!" the rough man laughed, mocking him. "Hey, nice job on those heels! Ya missed a spot!"

Phil snorted, looking like a charging bull to a matador. "I got your heel, right here!" he snarled and pounced on that man and bit him on his butt, tearing off some of his clothes to show his underwear.

"Phil!" Hercules picked him up.

"No, no!" Atticus scolded the satyr.

"What are you, crazy?" the rough man was on the ground, looking badly battered. "Geez!"

"Young man, we are in need of a professional hero, not an amateur." the short woman said as they walked off together.

"No, wait, stop!" Hercules called after them sadly, then let Phil go. He sighed and sat, feeling very down and worthless. "How am I supposed to prove myself if they won't give me a chance?"

"Don't care about what other people think, they don't do it often." Peach advised with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, don't worry, buddy," Phil patted Hercules on the knee. "You'll get your chance."

"Yeah, some catastrophe or disaster will come along." Cherry added, sounding positive about something bad to happen for a change.

"Help, somebody, please!" a familiar voice came from the crowd. It had been Meg! "There's been a terrible accident!"

"Meg?" Hercules went over and saw his damsel.

"You and your big mouth." Phil stared at Cherry.

"Make something happen to me now!" Peach said to her friend, excitedly.

Atticus just rolled his eyes.

"Wonder Boy, Hercules!" Meg sounded very happy to see him in contrast to before. "Listen, we've got huge trouble, bring your friends!"

"What's wrong?" Hercules asked.

"Outside of town, there were these two little boys playing in a gorge," Meg explained, sounding breathless. "There was this terrible rockslide, a terrible rockslide! They're trapped, and-"

"Kids?" Hercules seemed to beam. "Trapped? Guys, this is great!"

"You're really choked up about this, aren't you?" Meg glanced at his excitement.

"Come on, let's go!" Hercules got Meg, Cherry, Atticus, and Peach onto Pegasus to find the troubled children the girl mentioned.

Meg didn't want to go. She sounded very nervous right now and panicked as Pegasus put them through the air. She looked down as the crowd grouped together and Phil got left behind. Meg wheezed a bit from the heights, being afraid of them. Peach was surprised Cherry wasn't as nervous, she probably coped with it overtime. Phil was trying to keep up with them as they went to the gorge to save the children in distress.

 

It didn't take too long, but Pegasus had dropped the others off. Hercules helped the kids down and Meg was still clung to the winged horse. Her hair was really messed up and she looked as though she could faint.

"You okay?" Hercules asked cautiously.

"I'll be fine," Meg wheezed. "Just get me off here before I ruin your upholstery..."

Pegasus kicked her off, but she landed into Hercules's arms.

"Help!" a voice of a child cried in the distance. "I can't breathe!"

"Get us out!" another kid cried out.

"We're suffocating, someone call IX-I-I!"

"Those must be the kids." Cherry thought.

"Naaaahhh..." Peach couldn't help but be sarcastic.

Hercules came close to the kids as they were nearly crushed. "Easy fellas, you're gonna be alright."

"Get us out before we get crushed!" the chubby boy nearly groaned.

Some of the citizens came over to witness this. Hercules used all the strength he could, knowing he could do this when no one else could. He then groaned and lifted the boulder slowly and struggling, but it wasn't too much for him to handle like a mortal. Some of the people were impressed by Hercules's strength as he got the kids to get out free.

"You kids alright?" Hercules asked, looking like a role model for them.

"We're okay now." the skinny blonde boy said, smiling.

"Jeepers, mister, you're really strong!" the chubby boy with curly hair beamed.

"Well, just try to be more careful next time, okay, kids?" Hercules advised, nearly losing his strength with how long he was holding the boulder.

"We sure will!" the blonde boy called as he ran with his friend.

Peach watched them leave. "There was something suspicious about those boys..." she murmured to herself.

"I don't think they'll ping your bra, Bubba." Cherry said to her friend, knowing how Peach loved her own little brother, but he was annoying most of the time.

"They're just kids." Atticus shrugged.

"Right, now maybe this'll prove me as a true hero." Hercules said to them as he threw the boulder aside.

Meg seemed to have caught attention from the distance, but looked over the group quietly.

"Man, did you see that, guys?" Hercules beamed after Phil finally caught up to them, looking out of breath. "I did great! The crowd applauded!"

"Sorta." Peach said to him.

Suddenly, there was a hissing noise which filled the air. They all looked back nervously as there came snarling along with it.

"I hate to burst your bubble, kids..." Phil muttered, a little scared. "But that ain't applause..."

The group looked over. There appeared to be a very frightening, cold-blooded and hungry creature coming from underneath with its burning red eyes. It looked like a hideous, terrifying dragon. The others looked with horror, but Peach stood there a little blank. She was surprised, but not as much as the others.

"P-P-Phil, what do ya call that thing?" Hercules grew instantly nervous.

"Hydra..." Cherry gulped.

"Two words!" Phil called as he ran away with the kids. "AM-SCRAY!"

The crowd that saw Hercules lift the boulder earlier, were there and looked just as alarmed as the satyr.

"Let's get ready to RUMBLE!" Hades's voice was heard, seemingly from nowhere.

Hercules fumbled for his weapon and wielded it. The kids went with Phil who kept coaching Herc as he used his sword and tried to take down the menace of Thebes. Hercules was about to stab the creature with the sword, but it got stuck to a rock. The Hydra was ramming its head down and Hercules dodged in time to get it to eat the rock instead.

Hercules then came back and ripped open the Hydra's jaws and hit its head on the ground and went to quickly get his sword to successfully bring down this savage beast. However, as he was close to the sword, the Hydra grabbed his ankle with his tongue and threw him up in the air to devour him. The whole crowd cringed and grimaced as Hercules had been eaten alive.

The Hydra licked its lips and was about to go for one of the kids now, but it felt a disturbance inside its body. Hercules had sliced the throat open in order to get out. It was rather disgusting, but the crowd went crazy for him. Hercules fell to the ground unharmed and was covered in possibly stomach acid.

"That... That wasn't so... so hard..." Hercules muttered a bit, in a daze and fell to the ground.

"Kid?" Phil stood over him as he looked with Cherry, Atticus, and Peach. "Kid, how many horns do you see?"

Hercules looked rather dizzy. "Six...?"

"Close enough," Phil shrugged, then helped him up with Atticus's help. "Let's go get you cleaned up."

As they were leaving, the Hydra was still for a moment, but somehow managed to come back to life. The others looked a little scared and nervous and saw the Hydra wake up and sprout three heads. Cherry nearly fainted and Peach went to take her to a safe spot. It started to rain and Phil screamed seeing the three heads in alarm.

Hercules decided to signal Pegasus over to help him engage in this combat. Pegasus put the demigod on his back and Hercules wielded his sword to do what he did before. However, every time he would slice a head, the Hydra would grow a new head. It was getting so bad that the Hydra nearly had about a hundred heads.

"WILL YOU FORGET THE HEAD SLICING THING!?" Phil yelled as he was helping Peach and Atticus wake Cherry up.

The Hydra knocked Pegasus from Hercules and made the man fall against the several heads trying to eat him. He was almost about to defeat it, but the Hydra was a lot smarter than he anticipated for it to be. Lightning flashed against a distant mountain. Pegasus looked up and saw his demigod friend had nearly perished. The mountain crumbled and had buried the Hydra and Hercules.

"Is he gone...?" Cherry whimpered once she came to.

"There goes another one..." Phil murmured. "Just like Achilles..."

However, the Hydra was starting to move again. The crowd was nervous as they thought it was going to come back and try to kill them like the fake-out it gave Hercules. The monster was rumbling and it was cut open again, this time killing it and Hercules had come out, unharmed and very well alive. The crowd went crazier and cheered for the demigod.

"He's alive!" Atticus hopped with the girls.

"He almost died, but this is awesome!" Peach added.

"Whoo! Go, Hercules!" Cherry clapped for him.

Even Pegasus cheered.

The crowd went for Hercules and carried him over their shoulders to celebrate his victory. Phil was so proud of him like he was Hercules's father now and he had done something very well-accomplished. Meg had a small smile like the others and clapped gently as the people celebrated Hercules. Thebes was starting to look good about right now to live in with him on their side.


	9. Chapter 9

"From that day on, our boy Hercules could do no wrong!" Calliope narrated about the victory of the demigod against the horrible hydra from Thebes. "He was so hot, steam looked cool..."

Calliope: Ooooh, yeah!

Bless my soul

Herc was on a roll

Thalia: Person of the week in every Greek opinon poll

Cilo: What a pro!

Calliope: Herc could stop a show

Point him to a monster and you're talkin' SRO

He was a no one!

Cilo & Terpischore: A zero, a zero

Calliope: Now he's a honcho!

Muses: He's a hero!

Calliope: Here was a kid with his act-down-pat!

Muses: From zero to hero in no time flat

Zero to hero!

Calliope: Just like that!

Hercules was a celebrity in Thebes now and a living legend. People would cheer and worship him, like his family before him, a God. 

Thalia: And they slapped his face on every vase!

Terpischore: On every VOZZ!

Cilo: He could tell you what's the Grecian urn!

Muses: Say amen, there he goes again!

Cherry, Atticus, Peach, Phil, and Hercules collected golden coins that were generous and treasured donations from the public who admired Hercules like the god he was born to be. Hercules became the face of painters and on credit cards such as Grecian Express. He even beat up a vicious lion coming for the people. A lot of people agreed that Hercules put the glad in gladiator and was a zero to hero. 

Hercules was even given a store of himself that had coffee cups, action figures, branded sandals and almost anything else with Hercules's face on it. Cherry, Atticus, and Peach watched as Hercules rode on Pegasus to stop the Harpy and trapped it in a giant bird cage. 

The group was in a boat once with Phil. As it was a normal boat ride, there came a sea serphent to attack them. It was no match for Hercules as he grabbed it and turned it into a delicious and nutritious seafood dinner course. 

Hercules sponsored a new sports drink and the sandals for a lot of the young ones in his fan base. Hercules used some of the money to give to his adoptive parents and make them very proud, and he hoped his biological father was as well as they were. Hercules also faced creatures like a gorgon, a griffin, and a Minotaur. Hercules even stopped a volcano before lava even erupted and came out by shoving a rock over its hole.

Hercules and Pegasus were high-time celebrities and put their prints in wet cement for their viewing public. 

"That was pretty cool, I've never had such excitement in my life, though I wish you'd let someone try to kill me." Peach complimented.

"Sorry, Peach, I can't let you get hurt." Hercules told her.

"Darn you..." Peach nearly growled.

"I can't believe how much you have it made." Atticus smiled at the demigod.

Suddenly, there was a big blast. Everyone looked around, curiously.

"What was that?" Cherry wondered.

"Probably a sonic boom." Peach shrugged.

"Say, Herc, why don't we go see your dad?" Atticus suggested for their next move.

"Yeah, he's probably heard a lot about me and I'm enough to become a true being for Mount Olympus!" Hercules beamed, then got on Pegasus. "Come on, guys, let's go!"

The kids got on board.

"Have either of you seen Meg?" Hercules looked back at them, to which they all shrugged as Pegasus flew off to the temple where they first saw Zeus.


End file.
